


Safety Net

by Ragingstillness



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha!Pepper, F/M, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, No other characters, One-Shot, but not sexual at all, first foray into ABO ever, idk why I wrote this I just thought it'd be fun, literally just pure fluff, no beta we die like men, omega!Tony, set in an ABO universe, the hurt is so small and the comfort so big
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 23:30:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16459112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragingstillness/pseuds/Ragingstillness
Summary: Soft, fluffy moment of bonding and connection for Alpha!Pepper and Omega!Tony.





	Safety Net

Tony was half sure he’d surpassed his current record for hours without sleep. He couldn’t be fully sure due to the, well, sleep deprivation. He was nearing three days at least, or maybe four, or maybe five who knows? Tony’s own mental voice trailed off in a sing song.

He knew his scent was going wild, letting out waves upon waves of _stress, urgency, panic_ that were slowly spreading from the top of Stark Tower down. Employees had been avoiding him during the first couple of days but by the…whenever now was…even the Betas could barely stand to be around an Omega who smelled that distressed. It was annoying, even though Tony knew it was reasonable, because most of his department heads and R  & D people were Alphas or Omegas and without their input, his work, the source of his stress, was just getting worse.

JARVIS refused to provide him anymore coffee and despite his best efforts Tony could feel his body fading fast. But he wouldn’t give in. Mind over matter Tony. Mind over Secondary Gender, as his father would say.

Tony’s morality had died along with his will to keep moving and at this point breaking into Pepper’s office for some paperwork he needed made him about as guilty as eating the last pizza slice.

Tony continued rummaging through Pepper’s drawers, the document he was looking for still unfound. A click at the door alerted Tony to the presence of someone else. Not just any other person, but the owner of the office herself.

Tony braced himself for a scolding, but instead Pepper merely dropped one of her hands on hip and scanned Tony up and down. If he had been in a better state Tony might have preened.

Then Pepper sighed and leaned down, setting the files she was carrying on the floor. Tony’s eyes followed the papers and remained focused on them after Pepper had put them down. That was new very non-Pepper-like behavior. It would be a waste of Pepper’s time to dust the papers off when she picked them up and most certainly the documents would be vitally important and urgent.

Pepper’s heels clicked on the tile as they approached him. Tony couldn’t find it in himself to raise his head. Then the shoes stopped, and Tony heard the rustle of cloth.

He refocused his gaze then blinked in shock. Pepper hadn’t just shifted her dress or smoothed out some creases like Tony had expected. His brave CEO was sitting, on the dirty ground! Not sitting, Tony reassessed. Kneeling. Pepper, his beautiful, powerful Pepper, was kneeling on the floor of her own office, gazing up at Tony.

He noticed her hands, folded in her lap, palms up, the traditional position for calming a distressed Omega. Combined with her posture, and the frankly adoring smile on her face, Tony thought he knew what was about to happen. He knew but he still couldn’t believe it.

Why would Pepper ever want to mate with him? She was so perfect, so intelligent, organized, the height of competency. He was impulse, irresponsible, and irreparably damaged.

But then Pepper tilted her head to the side and that smile widened. Tony stopped breathing.

“Omega,” said those stunning lips. “Omega, I would like to take your stress away. I would like to hold you when you’re sad and celebrate with you when you’re happy. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. Would you like that as well?”

Tony’s hand flew to his chest, actually feeling his heart skip a beat. Pepper’s scent, always so comforting, radiated nothing but _love, claim, mate_.

A whimper built up in Tony’s throat. Next he knew, he had collapsed to the floor and crawled over to Pepper. His limbs refused to obey him and went limp the minute his head landed on her lap, leaving him sprawled over the floor.

He couldn’t bring himself to care. His Alpha had him. She was beautiful, and she was strong, and she would take great care of him. He just had to trust her, and everything would be ok. He didn’t have to worry anymore.

Tony hadn’t purred since Afghanistan but when Pepper’s small fingers begin to thread through his hair, the familiar urge built up in his throat. He glanced up at Pep- at his Alpha, and she cooed down at him.

“This room is completely locked down. You’re safe, Omega, you’re safe.”

Tony couldn’t hold in a short keen at that. Embarrassment flushed his cheeks and he turned his head away, smushing his face into Pepper’s thighs. She just giggled and continued petting him, making soft shushing sounds.

Her hand skated down the back of his neck, where his primary scent glands were. He instinctively elongated his neck, wanting Pepper’s home-cooking scent to cover his own, to surround him in an olfactory blanket.

Pepper acknowledged the urge, a soft growl rumbling from the back of her throat. She scratched one hand lightly over the back of his neck, while the other continued to slide through his hair, uncaring of the grease. She gently pried apart the smaller knots and left the bigger ones alone to be unsnarled latter.

Tony felt his lips press tight together and then, from the back of his throat, came a soft rumble. Just a quiet noise, a slightly cautious one, but a purr nonetheless. The noise was immediately caught by Pepper’s hypersensitive ears and she made a pleased chirp, leaning her upper body over Tony to curl around where his scent was the strongest.

Rather than feel smothered Tony felt loved, loved and comforted and kept. He had an Alpha now, a good Alpha, one who would care for him when he needed it and not look down on him for being an Omega.

Minute by minute, the panic drained from him and his senses came back online one by one. First was hearing, and he could finally make out the soft words Pepper was murmuring to him.

“Soft Omega, so soft. Beautiful, strong Omega. You work so hard, such a smart Omega, such a good Omega. I’m going to love you so much, soft one. Tonight, I’m going to take you to bed. Would you like that, soft one? Not for sex, just so I can hold you in my arms and cover you in my scent. I can’t wait until you smell like me. Then all those pesky female Alphas will stop draping themselves over you all the time. I’ve loved you for so long, soft one. So long, my perfect, amazing Omega.”

Tony’s purring increased in pitch and got louder. Pepper’s fingers caught on a small knot.

“But first I’m going to wash you, little Omega. You haven’t been taking very good care of yourself. I’m going to pull you into the bath with me and tug you against my chest, wrap my arms around you. I’ll soap up your beautiful hair, wash the suds out again and again until you fall asleep. Then I’ll dry my pretty Omega and carry him to bed. Did you know that’s why I’ve been working out so much? I wanted you, I wanted my Omega, and I wanted to be able to carry you to our bed, to set you down and lay with you.”

Pepper gave Tony a couple of soft, behind the ear scritches. He had admitted to her once that they were one of his favorite touches and they felt so much better now with Pepper’s beautiful nails doing the scritching.

“You know you don’t have to do my work for me, pretty Omega.” Pepper gestured up to the desk and Tony shifted just a little to follow her hand. “I’m going to get up now-” Tony whimpered. “But it’s ok, I’m just going to get something, then we’ll be close again.” She cupped his jaw. “Tony, brilliant Omega, I need you to say yes. I know you’re tired, and I know you’re deep in headspace, but I need your words.”

Tony coughed, registering for the first time the nasty aftertaste of too much coffee in his mouth. “Yes. Yes Alpha, anything.”

Pepper grinning and stood, gently tipped Tony up so he was sat placidly on the floor. She rounded her desk and reached into a filing cabinet off to the side. Inside was an embroidered red and gold pillow. It was wide and thick and cushy.

She gestured Tony over and he stood, hunching a bit to appear smaller. He wanted to feel small. He wanted to be surrounded by Pepper’s Alpha bigness, and feel happily small.

Pepper pulled out her desk chair and set the pillow on the ground next to it. “Come here, Tony.”

He came.

“Kneel.”

He knelt on the cushion. It felt just as soft as he had hoped and took so much pressure off of his knees. He sighed and gazed adoringly up at his Alpha. Pepper ruffled his hair.

“There you go, very good Omega. I have to get some work done, as much as I would rather carry you off now, because the other Omegas and Alphas and Betas of this company have jobs too, but I want you beside me.”

She moved her chair closer to his pillow and wrapped a hand around his head, guiding him to rest his cheek against her leg. He happily complied, purring again. Pepper hummed. She reached into another desk drawer and pulled out a water bottle and some nutrition bars.

“Drink, then eat, soft one. I’m taking care of you.”

Tony accepted the gifts when he usually wouldn’t, but his Alpha had given him them, so he was going to accept and accept happily. Pepper’s free hand returned to his hair. He nudged his nose against her and purred louder.

Pepper smiled, like the sun, and Tony couldn’t help but smile back. There’d be time in the future for her to wash him, for her to bring him to bed, for them to be bonded, for the two of them to hold each other up when they were weak, but for this moment, peace reigned at Stark Industries.

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo people. I've been producing an unusually high volume of writing recently. (Don't get used to it) This is my first foray into writing in an ABO universe ever but it's really super tame. I hope you enjoy this fluffy little tidbit.


End file.
